The Center for Global Health Policy staff is on its way to Tanzania. Hosting five congressional staffers, we’re heading to one of the countries hit hardest by HIV and tuberculosis. We will visit screening, treatment and prevention programs in Dar es Salaam, Mbeya and Zanzibar, talking to people providing and receiving services to address the impact of these diseases. We will meet with civil society representatives, and discuss the impacts of, and gaps in current efforts. We will pass on what we learn along the way, in updates and photos, and bring back stories of greater depth.

Our first stop is Dar es Salaam, the third fastest-growing city in Africa, where an estimated 9 percent of people live with HIV, and where people who inject drugs are at high risk. We will look at efforts to reduce harm from drug use, to address critical health worker shortages, observe challenges to TB case-finding, and hear from people who live with the impact of HIV. In Mbeya, where we will see the work of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program, we will catch up with ongoing HIV vaccine trials, visit care and treatment programs, and see how a faith-based effort helps local families generate income. In Zanzibar, where marginalized populations bear the brunt of the HIV epidemic, we will look at efforts to reach them.

As we stay in touch along the way, we hope you will too, and send us your feedback.